Post by Update 15 on Sept 10, 2008 14:58:53 GMT -5
Were to begin? Once again it has taken me longer than I had hoped to post an update and a lot has happened since the last one. Sorry if it is a little random.
First off, we would like to wish our best to Cpl Cruz’s mother. We hope your recovery continues and that you remain healthy.
Cpl Mia returned shortly after the last update. He enjoyed his leave, but still talks about Steakhouses a lot. Once he arrived back in Al Anbar, he was a little surprised to see Team 3 as he came into the hangar. We had made a special trip to come and pick him and Capt Torres, DET 2 CO, up from the airfield. Otherwise they would have been waiting for a few days as sandstorms moved through. The convoy was a good experience so everyone made out on this one.
LCpl Oliveras left for R&R and has also just returned having very much enjoyed his time home with his family. No special convoy for him though. Almost but the sandstorm this time made Iraq look like Mars with visibility at about 20 meters. He flew in a day or so later.
Now Cpl Ray was “Combat Meritoriously” promoted to Corporal with General Kelly (I MEF Forward Commanding General) as the approving authority. That means that when stacked up against other LCpls in all of Al Anbar province, he came out on top. Not too shabby, and luckily he hasn’t let it go to his head.
Jack, our linguist is now an uncle as his sister gave birth to a baby boy. Jack was going to go and see the baby but then changed his mind, because as he said, “New borns are ugly and cry a lot. I’ll wait a couple months and then go.” Either way, congratulations are in order for him.
Sgt Matthews has been focusing his efforts on our monthly reset training. Being an infantryman by MOS, he’s been able to add a lot to how we operate our convoys and security plans in town. Maybe it is a “Grunt” thing but he also has more gear than anyone I’ve ever seen. Already he’s a big guy, but with all the gear on he hardly fits in the HMMWV.
Doc has officially gone with the flat top haircut. It took a few days to get used to but now it’s as if he always had it. He also played on a volleyball team here on Camp. That’s how you know it isn’t really a war anymore…Intramural sports.
Sgt Johnson has been spending more and more time in the office helping SSgt and I with all the paperwork that is required. At first it was a little rough but since then he has become an expert on Powerpoint and Excel. Now if he could only figure out what to do after the Marine Corps.
Sgt Vee hasn’t had too much to do these days and has spent most of it in the gym. If you look at the team picture with the “REDS” jerseys (thanks again), his jersey is actually a large. He’s just gotten that much bigger.
SSgt Lee has come up with a quote, which he likes to repeat over and over. It goes something like this, “Team 3 covering an AO the size of 3/4 of the province, keeping the Sheiks in line.” That pretty well sums it up with some of our missions having more time getting there than actually on site. The keeping Sheiks in line part has a little truth to it as well.
LCpl Ebeling has become the Team’s old fashion telephone. In other words, he acts as the runner to pass word to Jack most nights. Unfortunately Jack doesn’t live near the team, but still needs to know what is going on. LCpl Ebeling acts as the link which keeps Jack as part of the team.
The weather here continues to confound us. Just the other day, after a sand storm, a thunderstorm moved in and soaked us with about 20 minutes of rain. Cpl Cruz said it best when he made the comment, “Holy cow, I haven’t heard thunder in months.” It was a nice change of pace.
As far as what we’ve been up to these days, the quick answer is not too much. September is the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, and that changes their schedule a lot. This is because during the month, Muslims aren’t supposed to eat or drink anything while the sun is up. Try that for a day. Not drinking anything in 115 degree heat isn’t fun. This causes most of them to change their schedule to stay up late and sleep most of the day. The change in pace is nice.
One thing we’ve learned is that Muslims are a lot like Christians in a lot of ways. As with Christians, a lot of Muslims don’t strictly hold to the “rules” of the religion. That means a lot aren’t fasting, and a lot do drink whiskey or beer. Turns out they are more like us than we may have thought before.
If you have been following the reconstruction effort over here in the papers, you have probably seen a few articles about CERP spending. This is our funding source, which provides for most all of our projects. Billions of dollars have been spent in this way for Iraq and Afghanistan. Some good news though is that you may have noticed in a few of those articles, MNF-W (our parent command) is planning on giving between $30-40 million back from this years budget. I’d say that’s a pretty big achievement. Soon enough we won’t be spending any more American money over here at all.
As always thank you for the support.
Lt Gilliland
First off, we would like to wish our best to Cpl Cruz’s mother. We hope your recovery continues and that you remain healthy.
Cpl Mia returned shortly after the last update. He enjoyed his leave, but still talks about Steakhouses a lot. Once he arrived back in Al Anbar, he was a little surprised to see Team 3 as he came into the hangar. We had made a special trip to come and pick him and Capt Torres, DET 2 CO, up from the airfield. Otherwise they would have been waiting for a few days as sandstorms moved through. The convoy was a good experience so everyone made out on this one.
LCpl Oliveras left for R&R and has also just returned having very much enjoyed his time home with his family. No special convoy for him though. Almost but the sandstorm this time made Iraq look like Mars with visibility at about 20 meters. He flew in a day or so later.
Now Cpl Ray was “Combat Meritoriously” promoted to Corporal with General Kelly (I MEF Forward Commanding General) as the approving authority. That means that when stacked up against other LCpls in all of Al Anbar province, he came out on top. Not too shabby, and luckily he hasn’t let it go to his head.
Jack, our linguist is now an uncle as his sister gave birth to a baby boy. Jack was going to go and see the baby but then changed his mind, because as he said, “New borns are ugly and cry a lot. I’ll wait a couple months and then go.” Either way, congratulations are in order for him.
Sgt Matthews has been focusing his efforts on our monthly reset training. Being an infantryman by MOS, he’s been able to add a lot to how we operate our convoys and security plans in town. Maybe it is a “Grunt” thing but he also has more gear than anyone I’ve ever seen. Already he’s a big guy, but with all the gear on he hardly fits in the HMMWV.
Doc has officially gone with the flat top haircut. It took a few days to get used to but now it’s as if he always had it. He also played on a volleyball team here on Camp. That’s how you know it isn’t really a war anymore…Intramural sports.
Sgt Johnson has been spending more and more time in the office helping SSgt and I with all the paperwork that is required. At first it was a little rough but since then he has become an expert on Powerpoint and Excel. Now if he could only figure out what to do after the Marine Corps.
Sgt Vee hasn’t had too much to do these days and has spent most of it in the gym. If you look at the team picture with the “REDS” jerseys (thanks again), his jersey is actually a large. He’s just gotten that much bigger.
SSgt Lee has come up with a quote, which he likes to repeat over and over. It goes something like this, “Team 3 covering an AO the size of 3/4 of the province, keeping the Sheiks in line.” That pretty well sums it up with some of our missions having more time getting there than actually on site. The keeping Sheiks in line part has a little truth to it as well.
LCpl Ebeling has become the Team’s old fashion telephone. In other words, he acts as the runner to pass word to Jack most nights. Unfortunately Jack doesn’t live near the team, but still needs to know what is going on. LCpl Ebeling acts as the link which keeps Jack as part of the team.
The weather here continues to confound us. Just the other day, after a sand storm, a thunderstorm moved in and soaked us with about 20 minutes of rain. Cpl Cruz said it best when he made the comment, “Holy cow, I haven’t heard thunder in months.” It was a nice change of pace.
As far as what we’ve been up to these days, the quick answer is not too much. September is the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, and that changes their schedule a lot. This is because during the month, Muslims aren’t supposed to eat or drink anything while the sun is up. Try that for a day. Not drinking anything in 115 degree heat isn’t fun. This causes most of them to change their schedule to stay up late and sleep most of the day. The change in pace is nice.
One thing we’ve learned is that Muslims are a lot like Christians in a lot of ways. As with Christians, a lot of Muslims don’t strictly hold to the “rules” of the religion. That means a lot aren’t fasting, and a lot do drink whiskey or beer. Turns out they are more like us than we may have thought before.
If you have been following the reconstruction effort over here in the papers, you have probably seen a few articles about CERP spending. This is our funding source, which provides for most all of our projects. Billions of dollars have been spent in this way for Iraq and Afghanistan. Some good news though is that you may have noticed in a few of those articles, MNF-W (our parent command) is planning on giving between $30-40 million back from this years budget. I’d say that’s a pretty big achievement. Soon enough we won’t be spending any more American money over here at all.
As always thank you for the support.
Lt Gilliland